A schoolgirl was left in tears after a mother told her ‘I don’t want you bombing my house’ after she had waved at her young son. Summer Douthwaite, who is mixed race, was walking home from her volunteer work when a little boy waved at her. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

When the Seaham High student waved back she never exepcted the ‘unprovoked and uncalled for’ abuse that followed. But what the shocked teenager says upset her most was that the woman felt scared of her.

Durham Constabulary are now investigating the incident and say they ‘will not tolerate hate crime of any nature’. Her distraught mum, Abi Douthwaite, said: “Summer got home and she started telling me about a little boy that had started waving to her and the mum was trying to get him away from her. “The boy waved again and Summer waved back. She said the kid spoke to her and the mum turned around to Summer and said ‘Don’t speak to my child’. “Summer asked why and the woman said something along the lines of ‘I don’t want you bombing my house’ and Summer just burst into tears.”

Kind, happy and caring Summer, who is a mentor at the local youth centre, says she was upset that the woman was scared of her. She said: “It felt like she was scared of me and I don’t like that. “I’m not that type of person, I wouldn’t want to hurt anyone and it upsets me that she thought that. “I just don’t want people to see me the way that they see these horrible people on the telly - it’s not all of us.” The teenager has dreams of becoming a children’s entertainer abroad when she grows up.

Mum-of-two Abi said the little boy seemed to gravitate towards Summer and she was just trying to be friendly. Abi, who works in a call centre, said: “I was more angry than anything else - it just makes you think what could have happened. “Summer was quite upset by it, she came in and started crying. “I think it was the shock, other than a few comments from kids she’s never had to experience racism. “Children will pick on someone for any reason that they’re different. “But for a grown adult to say that. She was just walking down the road, she was on her own, I just can’t believe it.” The family, who moved to Seaham three years ago, say they have been flooded with support for the ‘happy and smiling’ teenager after Abi, 31, shared the shocking story on social media. “Summer is pretty well known and well liked, she does mentoring at the youth centre, and people know her from drama classes and school. She volunteers at the Canny Photos,” said the mum-of-two. “She’s happy and always smiling and laughing. She loves kids and animals and Summer’s never got into trouble over anything - she’s just a lovely kid. “There’s never an excuse for racism but it’s not even like it was in retaliation, it was so unprovoked and uncalled for. “For a grown adult to say something like that to a 15-year-old girl, it’s disgraceful. “I want to say thank you to everyone who has been supporting us through it. It was nice for Summer to see not everyone is like that, hundreds of people had such lovely things to say about her.” The distressing incident happened on Saturday, March 2, at around 1.15pm in Bethune Avenue, Seaham. The woman is believed to be white with blond hair and the boy also had blond hair and was around four-years-old. A spokesman for Durham Constabulary said: “The report alleged that a 15-year-old girl had been subject to verbal abuse as she passed a boy walking with an adult female along Bethune Avenue, in Seaham. “It would appear that the boy waved at the victim, but was rebuked for doing so by the woman, who made racial remarks about the teenager. “The victim then returned home and reported the incident to her family, who alerted the police. “Any witnesses are asked to call police on 101 and quote incident 221 of March 2. “We will not tolerate hate crime of any nature in County Durham and Darlington and take all reports extremely seriously. We are doing everything we can to identify the offender. “If anyone believes they have been a victim of a hate crime, we would urge them to report it to us on 101, or call 999 in an emergency.”

Gordon Armstrong wrote:As concerning as this is, about peoples' perception of others, there's nothing in that report that suggests that it's a 'hate crime' [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It sounds to me like somebody who had/has a genuine, though uneducated, fear, which could be sorted very simply and quickly [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Very wise words rather than those of a writer wanting others to be provoked

Gordon Armstrong wrote:As concerning as this is, about peoples' perception of others, there's nothing in that report that suggests that it's a 'hate crime' [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It sounds to me like somebody who had/has a genuine, though uneducated, fear, which could be sorted very simply and quickly [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Very wise words rather than those of a writer wanting others to be provoked